Remembering….

Jay…the place you left is empty still. But your legacy is evident at every turn. Flowers you planted. Friends you made. People you helped. Plans you had. You are not forgotten. Never. We talk about you lots.

Here I stand in the reception area of the clinic. All is quiet and the benches empty. Yet I see patient charts lining the shelves and medications ready to be dispensed. I can't believe it's been a year….it looks like it was open yesterday! Memories come to mind of a vibrant leader who was suddenly called home. His love for the people and the work in the clinic. His family whom he dearly loved, and the sacrifices they made serving this mountain community. Jay isn't forgotten here…the service he gave and the love he showed. When will you open again? Many ask me in the market. Some pointing to an ailment they have or telling of someone…quietly suffering at home. I bow my head and tell them to keep praying…the time may be soon. We speak a little more about the turmoil in Haiti. How difficult doing business has become. Difficulties with travel and finding supplies. Yet they have hope and give words of encouragement. We also feel God is opening doors. The clinic board has sought direction from our Haitian mission committee. They have unanimously given support for us to send medical staff and re-open the clinic. Some adjustments will need to be made related to travel, and we face new challenges with supplies and medicine. We trust God will open those doors too and want to move ahead as He leads. We are happy and blessed to report an ER nurse from New York has inquired about serving in the clinic. He is making plans to move here with his family, taking the lead as clinic administrator. We will keep you posted. Keep praying for Haiti, the people of Oriani, and God's leading.

Broken Silence

It’s been awhile since there’s been an update from Confidence Health Center. We appreciate our supporters and recent inquires about the clinic and Haiti in general. The past few months have been challenging and we’ve faced many difficult situations. So difficult, in fact, that it’s been hard for any of us to write. Most notable was the unexpected passing of our dear friend and clinic administrator, Jay Giesel. After a very short illness, Jay suddenly passed away on January 13 in Port au Prince, Haiti. Even if you had never met him, you learned to know Jay through his descriptive writing and enthusiasm for Haiti. His writing had a way of pulling you in, and you felt like you were there! Seeing the sights and even smelling the smells. His love for the work just radiated! He is greatly missed and we offer our sincere condolences to his wife and family. We want to thank each one that has supported the family during this time. There have been countless people that have reached out and helped in so many ways. Oriani had a special day of honor and remembrance for Jay and his contributions in the community. We would especially like to thank our Haitian church family for their support and prayers. The clinic board has been endeavoring to re-open the clinic and restore services. We trust that God will open that door soon, as we face challenges with supplies and staffing. The political climate in Haiti remains unstable, making it increasingly difficult to operate. One thing that is certain, the need for health care in Oriani has not gone away. We frequently hear about medical conditions left untreated and cries for the clinic to re-open. Let’s not forget the people of Oriani. We will keep you posted and please continue to pray and support the work. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. Proverbs 3:5

Holding On

We recently enjoyed a short visit to Oriani by one of our board members, Keith Toews and his wife Candace. They flew into the Dominican Republic and I went to the border town of Malpasse to pick them up. They spent a few days here, visiting with many different ones and seeking counsel on the future of the clinic from our local clinic advisory committee, the national Mission Mennonite committee, and the local magistrate. We feel very good about the advice we received.

The situation in Haiti continues to be challenging. While we rejoice together with Christian Aid Ministries that all their hostages were able to escape safely and return to their families, the security situation here in Haiti remains volatile. There are many Haitians still being held hostage, and there is no sign that kidnappings are on the decline overall. For that reason, we are still avoiding traveling through the gang-controlled area of Croix-des-Bouquets. Our last trip into Port-au-Prince was October 12. There has been some question about the feasibility of us staying in Haiti, but the counsel we received while Keith’s were here has helped us to come to a more settled position on this. We feel that the Oriani area continues to be safe for the time being, and we are comfortable staying here, trusting our future into the hands of the almighty God and our local brethren and friends. We have faith that the locals will be honest with us and let us know if they feel our area is no longer safe.

We have found several workarounds to enable us to keep our clinic open and functioning, even if we are unable to travel into Port-au-Prince to buy supplies. We have several contacts from our area that make regular trips into Port with trucks and are able to bring items up for us. We also have resources in the Port area that are able to go from place to place on our behalf, purchasing items and bringing them to a drop-off point for the local trucks to pick up. We are very thankful these routes continue to stay open for us, and we are happy to see how the clinic is still able to function even in these uncertain times.

We continue to be quite busy here in the clinic, seeing anywhere from 50 to 80 patients per day. We seem to be seeing a lot of wound care lately. Several large, infected wounds have come in during the past several weeks, some of which have been treated previously with traditional methods, leading to them becoming very foul-smelling and challenging to deal with.

Our cleft palate baby, Jhonky, was able to go to the hospital last week for his initial assessment by the plastic surgeon that will do the operation. He continues to develop well, growing each time he comes in.

His consulation with the plastic surgeon at Hospital Bernard Mevs went well, and they scheduled a return visit for December 23 to go over lab results and hopefully put him on the schedule for operation. We are all ready to see his cleft palate repaired!

And so, the year draws to a close. We were unable to receive family or other company for Christmas due to the insecurity in the country, so we plan to spend a few days visiting friends in the Dominican Republic while the clinic is closed for the holidays. We hope to stock up on household supplies while we’re there also. We are looking at some staffing changes at the clinic in the new year, so we will need come back from Christmas ready to hit the ground running! It will be challenging to work through these changes while balancing the other needs of the clinic and household, but God will provide a way.

Continue to keep us in your prayers. We feel safe and secure here, and some of the anxiety and questions of the past few months are fading away as we trust the future into God’s hands. We feel like this is the place for us to be at the moment, but at the same time our hearts and minds are open to all possibilities, if the door should close for us to stay and we would need to return to the States. One day at a time!

As always, we thank each one of you who has donated money, supplies, and time to our clinic this past year. Our operation depends on people like you, and we are very grateful for each one. We are still needing to find a couple who would be willing to come serve as administrators of the clinic when our time here is finished later this year. We are looking for a married couple who is able to give several years to the cause, helping run the clinic and household. It would be very beneficial if either the husband or wife has medical training, but not absolutely necessary. Children are welcome. We have a safe and comfortable place to live, and all daily living is provided by the clinic. Oriani is home to a healthy church family, and there is plenty of spiritual food to be found every Sunday. There is not space enough here to list the blessings and benefits of your time here! If anyone is interested in this position, or know of someone who is, contact us via email at admin@confidencehealthcenter.com or via WhatsApp or Telegram at +509-3837-0605. Thanks!

Hunker Down

We’re into our fourth week now since the 17 Christian Aid Ministries missionaries were kidnapped in Croix-des-Bouquets, with no news yet of when or how they will be released. It has been hands-down the most uncertain and unsettling time since our family arrived in May 2019. We keep our ears tuned to any news, and sometimes it’s hard to prove what is true and what is rumor. It seems the country is holding its breath, waiting on a break and a return to some sort of normality. Besides the safety and kidnapping issue, the fuel shortage is ongoing in the entire country, making travel very difficult if not impossible. We had already been staying pretty close to home out of concern since the kidnapping, but I sat together with a group of local leaders this past Sunday, and they unanimously told me that under no circumstances was I to travel the road between Fond Parisien and Port-au-Prince. So that pretty much sealed the deal, meaning we are going to need to find a new normal that does not involve going to Port-au-Prince for the time being. This means no airport, no American grocery stores, no mail, and no medical supplies.

I have also been in constant communication with our board of directors in North America. At this point, we do not feel an immediate need to leave the country. The area we live in is extremely remote and far removed from the worst of the kidnapping and violence, which is mostly centered in and near Port-au-Prince. We have been fortunate to build up a relationship with the local leadership and community here in Oriani, and we feel like they have our backs and we can trust them to keep us informed if we are in increased danger. Our route to the border with the Dominican Republic does not involve driving through Port, and as long as the border stays open we can count on leaving that way if things deteriorate further. As far as our household supplies go, we are able to find most major staples in local markets. We might need to change our style of cooking for a while, but that won’t hurt us.

For now we are continuing in faith, keeping the clinic open and pursuing alternate ways of restocking medicines and other critical supplies. We currently have a reasonable inventory and will be able to operate at almost normal capacity for several weeks yet. At some point soon we will likely have to start limiting the services we provide at the clinic, but that is out of our control. Even if the clinic were to close completely, there are other ways we can encourage and be an asset to this community in general.

We aren’t discouraged, but rather going forward cautiously and trying to remain flexible. For now the door seems open to stay, but we have no promise of it remaining that way. We realize these are very uncertain times and we have no idea what the next days will bring. We feel loved and supported by our church family here in Oriani, and they are concerned about our well-being and wish the best for us. Thanks for your continued prayers and support. We need them more now than ever!